“In stature she was very tall, in appearance most terrifying, in the glance of her eye most fierce, and her voice was harsh; a great mass of the tawniest hair fell to her hips; around her neck was a large golden necklace; and she wore a tunic of diverse colors over which a thick mantle was fastened with a brooch. This was her invariable attire.” – Cassius Dio’s description of Boudica, Icenian Queen.

One of the most glorious female warriors in ancient history is the warrior queen Boudica – a Celtish badass who led her men into war against the Romans in 61 C.E. Under the order of the commanders of the Roman legions, her people were ravaged for conquest, slaves pillaged her home, and she was whipped. Her daughters were brutally raped and her people made into slaves for the glory of Rome. This was all a tiny offense compared to the savagery brought upon the Britons by their Roman conquerors as they forced their religions, customs and temples upon the ashes of what used to be Celtic land.

Secretly gathering together commanders and armies from lands not yet touched from Roman rule (the Trinovante), Boudica plotted revenge on the Romans and brought it with a force that shook the Romans immensely. Women in restless fury and men now freshly armed from outside help, burnt the towns and sprung a surprise attack that turned the defenseless Roman soldiers on the run. Routed and burnt by the flames and the surprise attack, Boudica won the day and emancipated her people in one desperate but brilliant counter in her revolt.

Suetonius, the king who unlike his predecessors pushed unto Briton was not shaken at first at the routing of the troops by Boudica’s revolt but as the barbarians rode, burned and decimated Roman towns he was forced to counter. Choosing a place where ambush was impossible, flanked and boarded by thick woods save for the front to where the barbarians would have to come at his fourteenth legion, Suetonius waited and Boudica came.

Riding aboard her chariot, with her two daughters, Boudica rode through the ranks and spoke:

“This,” she said, “is not the first time that the Britons have been led to battle by a woman. But now she did not come to boast the pride of a long line of ancestry, nor even to recover her kingdom and the plundered wealth of her family. She took the field, like the meanest among them, to assert the cause of public liberty, and to seek revenge for her body seamed with ignominious stripes, and her two daughters infamously ravished. From the pride and arrogance of the Romans nothing is sacred; all are subject to violation; the old endure the scourge, and the virgins are deflowered. But the vindictive gods are now at hand. A Roman legion dared to face the warlike Britons: with their lives they paid for their rashness; those who survived the carnage of that day, lie poorly hid behind their entrenchment, meditating nothing but how to save themselves by an ignominious flight. From the din of preparation, and the shouts of the British army, the Romans, even now, shrink back with terror. What will be their case when the assault begins? Look round, and view your numbers. Behold the proud display of warlike spirits, and consider the motives for which we draw the avenging sword. On this spot we must either conquer, or die with glory. There is no alternative. Though a woman, my resolution is fixed: the men, if they please, may survive with infamy, and live in bondage.” – (from: http://www.gallica.co.uk/celts/boudica.htm)

I wish I could say that Boudica conquered the Romans that day but alas military strategy is a necessity for a reason. The barbarian’s formless assault was decimated by Roman Legions who drove a wedge through their ranks and killed over 80,000 Celts with about 400 casualties. Boudica in the tradition of generals who refused capture, poisoned herself and died. Her likeness has been immortalized in a statue of herself, chariots and daughters at Westminster Bridge in England across from the house of Parliament.

When you choose to rob a people of their land and rape the daughters of a warrior Queen, you can expect a fury like no other. Boudica exemplified the heart and spirit of action within oppression, she is a symbol of liberty against invaders and a badass of history.

Written by Greg Dragon on Wednesday, June 23, 2010 

Filed under Badass of The Month
Tagged with badass, daughter, heart, history, military, rape, warrior